Nintendo Plans to Stop Switch 2 Scalpers

In the games industry, scalping can be a common occurrence and Nintendo plans to stop scalpers for their newest console the Switch 2.

Scalpers are people who buy large quantities of products upon launch. Their goal is to purchase most of what’s on the market so that there is nothing left for anyone else. This forces gamers to buy their consoles from scalpers for inflated prices as a last resort.

As per Nintendo’s shareholder Q&A document (in Japanese), a shareholder asked company executives what measures they were taking to stop people from buying up the Switch 2 console in bulk when it launches and reselling them at a higher price. And Nintendo’s strategy is to make sure enough consoles to meet demand.

“As a countermeasure for resale, we believe that it is most important to produce a sufficient number to meet customer demand. This idea has not changed since last year,” explained Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa.

Additionally, Nintendo acknowledged they were unable to produce sufficient quantities of Nintendo Switch due to a shortage of semiconductor components. Nintendo believes that the shortage of components won’t have a significant impact on the production of the successor model. Nintendo is also considering whether it can carry out other scalping countermeasures, and that it will take into account the circumstances of each region and make decisions within the limits permitted by law.

This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo. We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct…

— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) May 7, 2024

Initially, analysts believed that the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch this year and would be more of an iteration of current hardware, rather than a revolution. Nintendo previously announced on X/Twitter that a successor to the Nintendo Switch is set to be announced within this fiscal year.

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